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Partners' Message

Thursday, 29 June 2017

What Men Must Do to Stay Healthy; the Dos and Don’ts of a Healthy Lifestyle

Experts have always stressed the importance of cultivating a healthy lifestyle especially for a man to keep in tip-top condition. This of course, including ensuring your diet is balanced at all times and loaded with fruits
and vegetables also would normally incorporate a regimen of regular exercise. When
you visit your doctor you should be ready to get a list of recommendations
especially if you are opportune to meet with a nutritional health expert in
addition. And so be ready to be completely honest; this will enable them to
accurately assess your health issues.

Exercise is very crucial

About your doctor sounding judgmental sometimes – they’re only human.
But this is for your own good, and there cannot be any stigma when you interact
freely with your doctor. Besides, they have ‘sworn’ to keep your secrets secret
except when you permit them to share them with relatives or friends. When you
are completely open to your healthcare provider you give them limitless access
to resources and treatment options, hence they cannot help you beyond what they
know.

As a result you should expect a baggage of dos and don’ts from your
physician: Chief among these is the use of tobacco.
Tobacco consumption has been noted for a series of harmful health effects; they
include such as heart disease and stroke, to many other forms of cancers. Many
at times, fear may be used as a way of discouraging your indulgence in this and
other forms of unhealthy habits. Sometimes this method will work and some other
times it may just not work. In this case forms of support rather than coercion
need be employed; at other times communication and motivation or counselling will come
in handy.

Recent research in the US shows that tobacco damages the body in a
matter of minutes after a smoke and not after years. A report published in
Chemical Research in Toxicology, states that the chemicals which cause cancer
form very quickly after smoking. It is not too late to quit.

It is alright however if your first attempt or second attempt fails to
achieve the goal – your doctor or therapist will tell you, but you should not
feel like it will never work. Nicotine for instance is a highly addictive
substance. It might take multiple trials before you quit especially with
conventional therapy, and so you must never give up. Experts say you may have
to team up with a friend or family member which makes quitting (together) very
helpful.

So many people are hooked on alcohol
or given to it just as in social drinking; if you do not in any way fall into
any of these, happy are you then. But again experts say there is nothing wrong
with moderation which is like no more than two drinks a day for an adult male.
There is no need overemphasising the fact that heavy consumption of alcoholic
beverages puts you in danger of vehicular accidents, other risks as well as
liver damage.

TheAlcohol Health Alliance, an umbrella
organisation for a number of health charities and experts in the UK, says
people need to bear it in mind that they are romancing with cancer and other dangers
as they indulge in the wine, and relish the beer.

In Nigeria
as in many parts of the world, alcohol abuse has been known to be a major cause
of preventable death, and men account for most of those deaths, records show.
Drinking can also lead to work absenteeism as well as relationship problems. So
much of valuable income especially for low income earners in Nigeria, is lost
to irresponsible drinking. But if you are not able to control your drinking
habit, it is extremely advisable you talk to your healthcare provider or
addiction therapist about it.

Trans-fats also can be linked to heart disease; in Nigeria we
are not good at reading food labels, and food labels may not even be reliable.
But generally experts advice you avoid as much as possible these fats as may be
found in many of your fried snacks such as potato chips, and such oils as has
been hydrogenated including margarines." You should keep off these foods
in addition to sugary drinks and mineral drinks. They are loaded with sugar and
have virtually no nutritional value; they can actually help you put on
unnecessary weight because of the huge calories they pack.

If you
experience any form of depression or
anxiety please do not mask it or brave it. Sometimes it is just natural in
life; it is not just you. But your doctor can help a great deal. You may need treatments
which can vary from talking/therapy, to medications, to just getting more
sunlight and exercise. Do you suffer from some specific symptoms? Tell it to
your doctor as well.

Beef up your testosterone

Studies show
that by the time many men first talk to their doctor concerning erectile dysfunction,
they must have harboured the issues for months or even years. What it does to
you is that it must have affected you and your relationships adversely. Our
streets and media are awash with medications and supplements advertised to
provide solution to your problem rightly or wrongly. But the important thing is
that you must first of all open up that line of conversation.